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Legendre: Again, a unilingual police chief is chosen for Ottawa. Not good enough

Author of the article:

Jacques Legendre

Publishing date:

September 19, 2019 • 3 minute read

Ottawa's new police chief, Peter Sloly, speaks only one of Canada's official languages.Photo by Julie Oliver/ Postmedia

The Ottawa Police Services Board, apparently after an international search, has chosen for chief of police in Ottawa Peter Sloly, a former deputy chief of Toronto’s police service, who admits he’s unable to address questions from the media in French. Sloly was also a candidate in a previous competition for chief in Ottawa. We learn that, from 19 initial applicants, a short list of five was retained. That list included two deputy chiefs of the Ottawa service. Those two candidates are similarly incapable of answering questions in French.

Sloly and the internal candidates were clearly interested in the position. So why did they not better prepare over the years? These are all experienced senior police officers. They got to be in senior positions by having the talent and the aptitude for police work. But we all know that isn’t sufficient to rise through the ranks of any police service. Additional training and accumulated experience are required if officers wish to rise from constable to ranks such as sergeant, staff sergeant, inspector and superintendent. There are courses to take and tough exams to pass and officers must apply to undertake these. They must demonstrate that they have prepared. It is part of their police culture. A promise to take the necessary exam in six months or in a year, should they be promoted, simply would not cut it in any police service.

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So, what has happened in this competition for the top job? The internal candidates would have known of the importance of conversing in French, and Peter Sloly would have learned of it through his earlier application if he didn’t already know. None of them thought that an ability to communicate with the broader public in both official languages was sufficiently important in Canada’s capital city to prepare and have the ability in advance. The board apparently found this acceptable.

Our newly selected chief now says that he wants to achieve an ability to address the public and answer questions in French. I wish him all the luck in the world in achieving that because it surely won’t be easy. Learning another language later in one’s career is difficult. The normal difficulties of learning a new language are compounded when one occupies an important and demanding position. Senior administrators in the federal government have immersed themselves in intense courses in Jonquière (as part of the training, they are typically billeted with a family of francophones and are expected to converse around the table only in French) to bring their language abilities in line with their job requirements.

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Our newly selected chief now says that he wants to achieve an ability to address the public and answer questions in French. I wish him all the luck in the world in achieving that because it surely won’t be easy.

Former deputy chief Vince Bevan (who eventually became chief) successfully used that strategy with the board’s support. In his case, he had some additional advantages (a previous work history in Québec during which he had acquired some ability to converse in French, and a spouse who was a French-language teacher). Even so, he found the challenge very difficult.

I am somewhat comforted to know that the Ottawa Police Services Board will support Chief Sloly in his efforts, both financially and by according him the necessary time for this undertaking. But none of this should be necessary in 2019. The board ought to have a succession plan that adequately prepares its senior officers for increased responsibility. The message needs to be: Prepare yourself, come completely equipped to do the job, with the necessary language skills, or don’t apply.

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Why focus on an ability to address questions in French? For daily administrative chores, an important factor is leadership and example. The leader of this critical service will be the person on point when serious incidents occur affecting public security and public safety. Ottawa is a bilingual community, the capital of a bilingual country. Some 17 per cent of its population is francophone. Ottawa has a policy, finally entrenched in law, respecting our two official languages, which states in its Declaration of Principle: “The City of Ottawa recognizes both official languages as having the same rights, status and privileges.”

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This is not a question of political correctness. It is important that key leaders in our city be able to dialogue with the population directly, particularly during crises or when questions of public security and public safety are at issue.